Kim Stuns ‘K-Taro’ in Cage Force

By: Tony LoiseleurNov 8, 2008

TOKYO -- Korean import Jang Yong
Kim delivered a surprise technical knockout against UFC and
Dream veteran Keita
Nakamura Nakamura (15-4-2), who had never been finished in 20
previous fights, entered the bout as a heavy favorite against an
opponent with just three bouts to his credit.

After “K-Taro” slammed two stiff jabs into Kim’s face, the Korean
fighter snapped. Swarming straight forward on a backpedalling
Nakamura, Kim’s strikes broke through to their target and sent the
24-year-old Japanese fighter crashing to the mat.

Kim (2-2) continued his angry onslaught of punches and forced the
referee to intervene just as Nakamura’s corner threw in the towel.
The end came 59 seconds into round one, as Kim snapped a two-fight
losing streak and handed Nakamura his first defeat on Japanese
soil.

Mafetoni took Monma (15-8-3) to task early, sparking the Japanese
fighter with a flurry of punches in the first 30 seconds of the
bout. “Napao” chased Monma to the canvas and tried to finish with
punches, but Monma recovered and made an unsteady return to his
feet. There, he surrendered a back clinch to the Brazilian and was
issued a warning after he grabbed the cage to prevent a suplex.
Mafetoni (0-1) racked up a warning of his own when he kneed Monma
in the groin soon after.

Upon resumption of the fight, Mafetoni sought to finish what he
started with more big punches. Accepting he had nothing left to
lose, Monma fired back with a crowd-rousing right hand that sent
Mafetoni crashing to the mat. Monma lunged to finish his opponent,
but the Brazilian weathered the heavy strikes, kicked off Monma and
returned to a standing position.

Rocked and spent after going for broke in the previous four
minutes, the two men traded more punches before Mafetoni dove for
the takedown in the final seconds. Monma had the wherewithal to
cinch a guillotine choke, however, and coaxed the submission 4:47
into the first round.

Meanwhile, World Extreme Cagefighting and Shooto veteran Kenji Osawa
defeated Tomoya
Miyashita with three rounds of conservative counter grappling
and striking, as he picked up a unanimous decision.

Opening each round with punches that masked his takedown attempts,
Miyashita (9-5-5) had Osawa against the cage in all three periods,
but Osawa’s experience against stateside wrestlers served him well,
and he reversed position every time. Osawa (14-8-2) also pinned and
trapped a turtled Miyashita’s arms, ala Matt Hughes,
and delivered punches from above in the second round. Finishing the
final round with some tit-for-tat striking, Osawa earned the nod
from all three judges.

In other action, Yasuhiro
Urushitani won for the first time in more than a year and
finished Kiyotaka
Shimizu early in the first round, albeit by an anticlimactic
doctor stoppage.

Though Shimizu (0-1-1) scored with unchecked low kicks, Urushitani
(15-4-6) returned with grazing punches and kicks. One of his high
kicks grazed Shimizu’s right eye, cutting him bone-deep and
prompting the doctor to step in 3:06 into the first round.

Kim, Monma and Urushanti were not the only Cage Force participants
to finish fights.

Yukiya
Naito stopped Alex Silva in the first round of their
middleweight bout, as he pounded out the jiu-jitsu fighter 4:29
into the match.

Despite some position exchanges, Silva (1-1) took Naito’s back, but
the Japanese Judoka escaped through the back door and brought the
fight to a standing position. Silva was unable to bring the fight
back to the ground, however, and paid for it. With a hard right
hand, Naito (14-4-2) crumpled Silva and followed up with hammer
fists for the technical knockout. Naito has won five consecutive
fights.

Sato’s opponent, Rikuhei
Fujii, was the better stand-up fighter, but, despite landing
some punishing punches on the Kazushi
Sakuraba-trained Sato, Fujii (3-3) was still no match for him
on the canvas.

Sato (7-5-4) secured a double-leg, passed Fujii’s guard and dropped
elbows and punches from side control in all three rounds. By bout’s
end, Sato’s complete control earned him a nod from all three
judges.

In welterweight action, Powergate hero Hiroki Tanaka dropped a
unanimous decision to hometown journeyman Keitaro
Maeda in a three-round affair that saw a stalking Maeda land
repeated flurries to his opponent’s head.

Unable to take down Maeda (3-3-1) in the opening rounds, Tanaka
(14-5-3) reverted to tying up Maeda in the clinch and putting him
against the cage. Maeda’s forward-pressing flurries found their
mark in the third round, however, as he widened his lead on the
scorecards en route to a unanimous decision.

Ultimately, Miyazaki (1-1-1) pushed Hoshino against the cage, where
a quick transition from the clinch to back control opened an
opportunity for Miyazaki to sink the rear-naked choke. The
previously unbeaten Hoshino (4-1) tapped out 1:48 into round
two.